16 December 2012

Tubby Dog - SERIOUSLY, You Gotta Eat Here!

Cooking is my yoga, my meditation, my “me time”. And if ever
I can’t cook and I need that stress relief – the second best option is a
cooking show. My not-so-secret celebrity crush is Adam from ‘Man vs Food’ and I
dream of being able to tour America following his trail of soul food, ice cream
sundaes and ridiculous stroke inducing challenges.

When we checked into our new Hotel, the first TV Show we
saw was ‘You Gotta Eat Here’ – I was hooked! It was local – places I could
actually go and try and not just dream about! The first place they showed in
Calgary was a Hot Dog Joint called “Tubby Dogs” – famous for their enormous
dogs, unique ingredients and imaginative combinations. Hubby saw the tail end of
it and he was keen for adventure –and to get out of the Hotel room! So we
bundled Poppy into her ski gear, and headed off into the car park for part one of
our adventure – finding our car after a mini blizzard.

It’s quite funny that places never really look the same as
they do on TV. Tubby Dogs didn’t look any better or worse – just different.
It’s got that authentic old school American Diner feel about it – with the Red
Leather Booths and scuffed up floor. The menu is small but enough.

We continued our adventurous spirit by each ordering a different
“Dog of the Day” – I got the Dog with Sauteed Onions, Mayonnaise, Yellow
Mustard and Cheese. Hubby went for the Dog with Sauteed and Crispy Onions,
Yellow Mustard, BBQ Sauce and Space Cheese.

I’m not exactly sure what space cheese is… but let’s just
say that nothing even remotely natural is that shade of orange. Regardless of
whether it’s been to the moon and back…

The Dogs were huge. From watching the TV Special there seemed
to be 3 schools of thought when it came to actually eating them:

1.Pick it up and eat it – no hesitation, no fear
of spillage. Go for gold.2.The Shovel Technique – Keep it in the cardboard
boat and feed it into your mouth conveyer belt style.3.Knife and Fork – Seriously, who goes to a Hot Dog
joint and uses a knife and fork?? Wimps!!

We opted for option 1 – and I will admit, we both ended up
wearing as much as we ate – but it was worth every, single, tasty morsel!

Without a doubt – Tubby Dog is the best Hot Dog I have
ever eaten.

Although the ingredients were simple – every single one works
and is tasty in its own right. But the absolutely winner is the quality sausage.
I have never had a dog that delicious before – I expected the humble, boring
Frankfurter – dolled up with some sexy condiments – but I was blown away by the
flavour!

We also spied “T-Rings” on the menu and were informed that
they were “just like Onion Rings – but ours – and huge”. Who can go past a
description like that? They were deep fried to donut coloured perfection and were
the perfect crunchy, greasy interlude between bits of mustard oozing dog.

If you can drag your attention away from the mess you’re
creating – take a look around at the hilarious (and often inappropriate)
posters on the wall, and the cabinet of bygone goodies…

Think original
Spacefood, a whole Chicken in a Can,
Cheese in a squirty can, 50 year old Weiners in a Jar… There seems to have been a time in history where you were limited only by your imagination (and your gag reflex?) as to what you could put in a can... And here is a shrine to the best of the worst.

My verdict? Do yourself a flavour and get down to Tubby Dogs
before you have to line up!

I’ll be back as soon as I conquer my fear of
driving in the snow… but with messy motivation like this – it won’t take me
long!